They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

HOSEA 4:13KJV
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Hosea 4:13 (KJV)

What does Hosea 4:13 mean?

Hosea 4:13 describes how the people of Israel were worshipping on mountaintops and under trees, offering sacrifices and burning incense in places they found pleasant, instead of worshipping God as they were taught. Because of this unfaithfulness, the verse says their daughters and wives would be unfaithful too, as a consequence of the nation’s spiritual adultery.

In this verse, the prophet Hosea is speaking to the people of Israel, warning them about the results of their idolatry. The setting is one where the Israelites have turned away from God and are practicing pagan rituals in nature, under trees with good shade, which were often used for idol worship. The verse uses the image of marital unfaithfulness to show how their spiritual betrayal leads to brokenness in their community.

The Hebrew behind Hosea 4:13

  • The word for "sacrifice" is זָבַח (zavach), which means to offer animal sacrifices. This highlights that the people were not just praying but performing full religious rituals outside the temple.
  • "Tops" is רֹאשׁ (rosh), meaning the highest point, here referring to the tops of mountains (הַר, har). This shows they chose prominent, visible places for their worship, which was common in pagan practices.
  • "Whoredom" is זָנָה (zanah), which often refers to sexual immorality but here is used to describe spiritual unfaithfulness—turning away from God to follow other gods.
  • "Adultery" is נָאַף (na’af), which literally means marital unfaithfulness and is used here to draw a parallel between the people's idolatry and breaking the trust of a marriage.

Why Hosea 4:13 matters

  • Hosea 4:13 clears up that Israel’s problem was not just private sin but public, organized worship in the wrong places and ways, showing a deep turning away from God.
  • The verse emphasizes that spiritual choices have real-life consequences, affecting families and society, not just individuals.
  • This verse connects to Hosea’s wider message that idolatry is like adultery—a betrayal that damages relationships and trust, both with God and within the community.

Where else these words appear

“poplars” Hebrew H3839 · used in 2 verses

  • Genesis 30:37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

“oaks” Hebrew H437 · used in 8 verses

  • Genesis 35:8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
  • Isaiah 6:13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
  • Ezekiel 27:6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.

“elms” Hebrew H424 · used in 12 verses

  • Genesis 35:4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
  • 2 Samuel 18:9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.
  • 1 Chronicles 10:12 They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

“adultery” Hebrew H5003 · used in 26 verses

  • Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
  • Jeremiah 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
  • Ezekiel 16:32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!